The V-to-L Guide: How to Keep Weight Off After GLP-1s

After stopping semaglutide or tirzepatide, the average weight regain in the first year is 9.9 kg (21.8 lbs). People gain back an average of 0.8 kg per month after stopping. Two-thirds of lost weight is regained within one year. Return to baseline weight occurs by 18 months.

These are not scare tactics. These are peer-reviewed findings published in The Lancet, JAMA, and other leading medical journals. And they represent the single biggest challenge facing the millions of people whose lives have been transformed by GLP-1 medications.

We call it the V-to-L Problem.

Understanding the V-to-L Problem

When you look at weight trajectories after GLP-1 discontinuation, you see a distinctive V shape: weight drops during treatment, hits a low point, then rebounds sharply back toward the starting weight.

But it does not have to be this way. With the right behavioral foundation, that V can become an L: weight drops during treatment, hits a low point, and then stabilizes at a new, lower baseline.

The difference between V and L is not genetics, willpower, or luck. It is habits.

The Five Pillars of Post-GLP-1 Maintenance

1. Protein Consistency During treatment, your reduced appetite makes it easy to under-eat protein. After stopping, your appetite returns but your muscle mass may be depleted. Maintaining 1g of protein per pound of body weight helps preserve lean mass and supports metabolic rate.

2. Daily Movement You do not need to train for a marathon. Research shows that 7,000-10,000 steps per day significantly improves weight maintenance outcomes. The key is consistency, not intensity.

3. Hydration Habits Proper hydration supports metabolism, reduces false hunger signals, and maintains the habits you built during treatment. Aim for 64+ ounces daily.

4. Progress Monitoring Weekly weigh-ins with trend tracking (not daily fluctuation panic) help you catch small gains before they become large ones. A 2-3 lb increase over two weeks is a signal to re-engage your habits, not a reason to despair.

5. Streak Maintenance The habit streaks you build during treatment are your insurance policy. Every day you check in, log your protein, and track your movement, you reinforce the neural pathways that make these behaviors automatic.

Why Most People Fail (And How to Succeed)

The primary reason for weight regain after GLP-1 discontinuation is not biological rebound alone. It is the absence of behavioral change during treatment.

Many people treat GLP-1 medications as a passive solution: take the medication, lose the weight, stop the medication. But without actively building habits during treatment, there is no behavioral infrastructure to maintain the loss.

This is exactly why Phaze exists. The Sustain Phaze is specifically designed for people transitioning off medication. It monitors your trends, alerts you to early signs of regain, and helps you re-engage the habits that worked during treatment.

The Sustain Phaze Strategy

When you enter Sustain Phaze in the app, several things change:

• Monitoring shifts: Weight trend analysis becomes more prominent, with early warning alerts
• Habit reinforcement: The habits that drove your success during treatment are highlighted and tracked
• Celebration continues: Your streaks, milestones, and progress photos continue to celebrate your maintenance
• Guidance adapts: Tips and insights shift from weight loss to weight maintenance strategies

Your Action Plan

If you are currently on GLP-1 medication and planning to stop:

1. Start building habits now. Do not wait until you stop to begin tracking protein, hydration, and movement.
2. Establish baselines. Know your protein target, your daily step count, and your hydration needs.
3. Build streaks. The longer your habit streaks before stopping, the stronger your behavioral foundation.
4. Plan for appetite return. Your appetite will come back. Having established eating patterns and protein targets makes this manageable rather than overwhelming.
5. Use progress photos. Seeing how far you have come is powerful motivation during the challenging early weeks after stopping.

The medication handled the biology. Your habits handle the future. That is the V-to-L difference.